Cullen Bunn Teams Up with Ed Brubaker on CAPTAIN AMERICA

By Albert Ching, Newsarama Staff Writer June 6, 2012 09:40am ET

Captain America

and Namor #635.1

cover.

Cullen Bunn is becoming increasingly familiar with Captain America. He's writing the character in team-up book Captain America and Hawkeye, which started in April, and later this month transitions into Captain America and Iron Man. The book is changing titles — and co-stars — with each story arc, and August brings the one-shot story Captain America and Namor #635.1, featuring a World War II-era adventure starring Cap and the Sub-Mariner.

And his association with Steve Rogers doesn't end there: Bunn's also co-writing the main Captain America series with writer Ed Brubaker — who's been on the book through various incarnations since 2004 — starting with July's Captain America #15 and the "New World Orders" storyline, illustrated by artist Scot Eaton (Secret Avengers).

In the second part of our interview with Bunn (the first half covered Venom and Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, we focused on both Captain America series, learning more about what he and Brubaker have planned and the fun in writing Namor's "big personality." Courtesy of Marvel, we're debuting new art from Captain America and Namor #635.1, presented throughout the article.

Newsarama: Cullen, on top of Venom and Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, you're also co-writing a Captain America arc with Ed Brubaker starting in July — what led to that gig?

Captain America

#15 cover.

Cullen Bunn: I've been working on the "Captain America and" book, and it came to a point where Ed wanted a little bit of help with this current arc — he's a busy guy, as you know. I guess because I was working on Captain America, Tom Brevoort and Lauren Sankovitch contacted me and asked if I would be willing to co-write an arc with Ed, and I jumped all over that, because he's a writer I really like. It's an experience I would not have traded.

I just turned in my part of the work for the third issue — it's four issues, so I'll be finishing that up pretty soon. But it's been a lot of fun. Like Deadpool, Ed Brubaker has a reputation. [Laughs]. People expect certain kinds of story from him, and I love those stories, but I also like that in the new Captain America series, he's been stretching outside of that. It's kind of going back to some of the more classic-type storylines for Captain America, and that's definitely the kind of story that we're telling here.

Captain America

and Iron Man

#633 cover.

It's a big, bombastic story with Captain America and his crew, and they're dealing with this threat that's shaking the United States to its core. There's this new group of terrible villains called the Discordians who are showing up and are immensely powerful, and have basically declared war. It's Captain America standing against them and the puppet masters that are pulling their strings. All the while, the world is kind of turning against him. They're feeding on fear, there's a shock journalist who is calling Captain America out — he's basically saying Captain America is very last century, we don't need him anymore, he can't stand up against these kinds of threats; and we need someone, or something, that can. "He should turn over his shield, he's done, he's an old man." He's calling for Captain America to step down in what should be the worst time for anybody to call for Captain America to step down.

Nrama: And though you're co-writing an arc, it sounds like readers shouldn't assume that means you're taking over in the near future.

Bunn: I would not assume that this is a Venom-like situation, no.

Captain America

and Namor

#635.1 interior art.

Nrama: And then coming up in "Captain America and" is Captain America and Namor, correct?

Bunn: We've got Captain America and Iron Man coming up first, and then we go into Captain America and Namor, and it'll be a World War II story — a very insane World War II story.

Nrama: Namor seems like a fun character to write — Kieron Gillen certainly seems to be having a lot of fun with him in Uncanny X-Men.

Captain America

and Namor #635.1

interior art.

Bunn: He's one of those characters you don't think is going to be fun to write. Like Dum-Dum Dugan, in Captain America. Until I started working on this with Ed, I never realized he was such a fun character to write.

I've always read Namor stories and I'm like, "Eh, Namor, he's such a jerk." But he's so fun to write — he's great because of that quality. He has a big personality, and he has a superiority complex, and that all comes out.

It's cool to write an Invaders-era Captain America story. It's a big departure from the other stories. It's one issue, but I packed a lot of stuff into that one issue. I packed as much as I possibly could. I felt bad for Will Conrad, who's doing the art, but the stuff he's doing is gorgeous, so I don't feel bad anymore.

Captain America

and Namor #635.1

interior art.

Nrama: So with your growing list of Marvel credits, have you noticed fans then checking out your work on The Sixth Gun at Oni?

Bunn: It's interesting, because I'm not sure what I expected. Will Marvel readers pick up a non-Marvel book by a writer if they like what the writer is doing? I don't know if that's happening or not.

I get a lot of emails now. Just this week I got an email from someone saying, "I like what you did in Wolverine, but it was when you brought Stegron back in Captain America and Hawkeye that I became a lifelong fan, and now I am buying your three trades of The Sixth Gun, because you brought Stegron back." If I knew that, I'd put Stegron in every book.